The teaching manuals, which serve as guidelines for middle and high schools, are also used by publishers of school texts. Although the manuals have no binding legal power, they are used as reference materials to certify school texts.

The last time the Japanese government revised the teaching manuals was in 2008, when textbooks were required to state that Korea and Japan have "differing" views about the ownership of Dokdo.

Since then, junior high school geography texts began to mention Japan's flimsy territorial claim to Dokdo. Now, the Japanese government wants to include the claim in junior and senior high school texts.

The manuals are normally revised every 10 years, but the latest revision took place just six years after the last because the far-right Abe administration demanded changes claiming that there was a lack of sufficient information.